So, basically, my only knowledge of anything Mongolian is my favorite Chinese restaurant dish, Mongolian Beef...which, as y'all may have guessed, is not being knowledgeable at all. When reading chapter eleven, I was surprised by the Mongol Empire. It was the largest land-based empire in the world, yet it left very minimal cultural impact; it provided no new religion, language, or civilization. The empire spread from the Pacifica Coast of Asia all the way to the Eastern section of Europe. When the Mongols defeated a land, they would treat the people only as defeated and subordinate, unless they possessed some type of talent they could use for their own benefit. Like any other group to take over other peoples, the Mongols sound like a bunch of jerks. Buuuut, they were pretty amazing. They had less than one million people in their army, and Chinggis Khan was determined to get into China! That is awesome. Very sure of himself, and his people. And he did it! (this I did know, haha)
Once in China, the Mongols adapted some Chinese administrative policies and Confucian theories, but other than that, the Mongols seemed to just kind of chill out in the Chinese people's area. Sooo, I feel this comes back around to my favorite dish...
Maybe the Mongols swapped recipes with their new Chinese subordinates, and when the Chinese regained their power, they made a fortune off #32: Mongolian Beef when they migrated over here to modern day America.
Mmmm, and I am so glad they did. Spicy-sweet-beefy goodness!
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